Snapshots of Summer: A Memorial Day Weekend Photo Checklist

As the unofficial start of summer, Memorial Day weekend marks the arrival of a new season of sun-drenched photography. With a camera or smartphone in hand, you’ll score endless snapshots of your family, friends, and pets embracing the fun, festivities, and moments of reflection throughout the long weekend. This inaugural set of summer photos will inspire you to keep on capturing amazing memories throughout the rest of the season.

Looking through your Memorial Day photos, whether it’s in your camera reel or a custom-printed photo book, you’ll almost be able to smell the sunscreen and BBQ smoke! Use our shareable checklist of Memorial Day weekend’s must-capture moments to help you transform summertime’s arrival into a tangible book of memories.

Why This Weekend Matters

Memorial Day is more than just a long weekend—it’s a time to gather and honor military personnel who died in service. On the last Monday of May, many choose to visit cemeteries and memorials, lay flowers, and place flags on graves. Parades are a popular way to remember the fallen as well.

For families honoring one of their own, this is a solemn and reflective time. For all Americans, the holiday is a poignant reminder to appreciate the joys and freedoms that make life so special. However you spend the holiday weekend, whether it’s road-tripping or relaxing at home, a pool party with friends or hiking at a local beauty spot, be sure to catch it all on camera.

Tip: Mixbook offers several photo book themes designed especially for military families, including Military Traveler and Military Heroes.

The Checklist: 15+ Must-Capture Moments

Any three-day weekend feels like a real treat—an extra span of time to spend with family and friends, and doing whatever you want. Memorial Day weekend comes with the bonus of newly arrived summer weather, thoughts of vacations and school breaks on the horizon, and the chance for meaningful moments of reflection.

Photographs of Memorial Day weekend activities readily fall into distinct categories, each representing a different facet of the holiday. Use this checklist to get snapshots of all the weekend’s key moments, and it will be easy to keep your photo collection organized, ready to turn into a beautiful photo book.

Moments of Meaning

Memorial Day weekend is usually filled with fun in the sun, but your photos should also honor the reason for the holiday. Consider the following photo opportunities:

• A flag waving in the wind. With a clear, sunny sky as a backdrop, this type of image is a fitting representation of Memorial Day. You can usually find large flags flying outside government buildings and in many public spaces. Smaller flags, whether placed on a grave or held in someone’s hands, also make good photo subjects.
• A quiet moment of reflection. If you spend some of Memorial Day visiting a memorial or cemetery, you might (respectfully) capture personal moments of reflection among your friends or family members, or perhaps some group shots of community events.
• Flowers laid in remembrance. Flowers placed on a grave or memorial stone carry deep symbolism, resulting in a photo that needs no explanation.
• A veteran in your life or community. Honor a veteran and their service by taking some thoughtful portrait shots. You might thank them or ask their thoughts on the meaning of Memorial Day, which presents the opportunity for a more candid, unposed portrait.

Classic Long Weekend Vibes

An extra day off work. Fun in the sun. Gatherings of family and friends. All these features of Memorial Day weekend make excellent photography subjects. Here are some suggestions to capture those exceptional vibes:

• The first BBQ bite of the season. A grinning friend or family member about to bite into a juicy grilled burger or hot dog is a fantastic depiction of Memorial Day weekend. Go ahead and have Aunt Sue pose with her famous potato salad, too.
• Everyone gathered around the grill. Memorial Day weekend gatherings traditionally feature BBQs, and you know everyone wants to be right where the grilling action is. Capture the assembly of BBQ experts in their happy place!
• Sunset (or golden hour) at the park or beach. Sunset and the golden hour (about an hour before sunset) is a photographer’s prime time. Don’t miss the chance to capture the winding-down festivities at a local park, beach, or other picturesque spot in the gorgeously mellow glow of the setting sun.
• S'mores by the firepit. The long weekend fun doesn’t need to end, and nor does the outdoor feasting, when the sun sets. Extend your days outdoors by gathering everyone together for s’mores around a firepit or campfire—and shoot epic photographs at the same time.
• Ice cream melting faster than you can eat it. The summertime struggle of a quickly melting frozen treat makes for really fun photos. Zoom in on those ice cream drips, sticky hands, and messy faces for sweet shots that say “summer’s here!”

Connections & Togetherness

Memorial Day weekend is often the first chance for a summer gathering of friends and family. Aim to snap some photos that represent the connections and sense of togetherness around the holiday, such as:

• A group cheers. Ask everyone at your gathering to raise a glass and say cheers while you take a group photograph. This could be an opportunity to honor the meaning of the holiday with a toast.
• Kids or pets playing in the yard. Your Memorial Day weekend weather will hopefully cooperate with plans to spend tons of time outdoors. This gives you lots of chances to capture kids and pets at play—always a fun photography subject.
• Your favorite candid of a loved one. Candid shots of those you love are often much more special than posed ones. Be sneaky and snap your favorite person at a moment when they’re smiling, relaxed, and unposed.
• A shared laugh, unposed and real. Memorial Day weekend get-togethers are filled with genuine moments of connection and shared laughter. Take photos of those authentic moments whenever you can.
• A family tradition in action. Does your family have any unique or special traditions for Memorial Day weekend? It could be an intense cornhole tournament, a weird-but-good punch recipe, or participating in the local parade. These are all important moments to capture on camera.

Pro Tips for Memorial Day Weekend Photo Shoots

Want to step up your photograph collection this Memorial Day weekend? Consider these tips for start-of-summer photo shoot success:

• Take a variety of wide shots and small details. Don’t skip over small details from the spaces around you during the weekend’s celebrations. You might take snaps of hands passing a plate, a pile of flip-flops by the door, your dog’s stars-and-stripes bandana, or the red, white, and blue flowers in a centerpiece. These kinds of shots make for a more well-rounded photo collection.
• Get in the frame yourself. Selfies are a real art, so you can get some amazing shots by putting yourself in the frame along with other subjects.
• Capture one thing that made you feel something. Photograph a scene or a still life that feels meaningful to you, whether it’s a flag, a flower, or a moment of stillness. The value of that memory will come back to you every time to look at the photo.
• Sunny day photography 101. The no. 1 tip for photography on sunny days is to keep the sun behind your subjects—the photographer should be facing the sun.

Want more summer photography tips? Read our guide: 7 Tips to Help You Take the Best Photos this Summer.

Turn Your Memorial Day Weekend into a Photo Book

If you followed our checklist and got an amazing collection of photos during Memorial Day weekend, be sure to get them off your camera roll. Those photos deserve to be showcased in a photo book you can pick up and hold in your hands, inviting you to relive the memories for many years to come.

They could be the start of a summer photo book, or a family album customized around all your annual traditions. Mixbook has thousands of photo book themes, which make it so easy to simply drag and drop your pictures into place. Here are some of the top choices for a summer memory book:

• Tropic Greenery
• Rainbow Brush Lettering by Amy Tangerine
• Serene Blue Photo Book by Martha Stewart
• Hello Summer by Photo Play Paper
• Summer Vacation Memories
• Vintage Summer Vibes
• Vacation by Ampersand Design Studio

Start Your Summer Memory Book

Summertime photos all capture the distinct vibe of the season, evoking the playfulness of vacations, longer days, and time well-spent outdoors. Documenting your own Memorial Day customs is the ideal way to kick off the season’s photo collection. Head to Mixbook Studio™ to get started on your summer memory book project today.